Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Evansville River City Bicycle Classic

picture of bicycle racers at the River City Bicycle Classic going past the fountain in Garvin Park

The River City Bicycle Classic race was held last Saturday in Evansville.

There were a series of races throughout the day.

Margot and I went down late in the afternoon and caught the last two races.




picture of bicycle racers at the River City Bicycle Classic riding through sunshine
This was a criterium type race. Which from what I can decipher means that they run for a target amount of time - not necessarily a certain distance.

These are the Cat 1/2/3 men. They are going maybe 25 miles/hr for 60 minutes.




picture of 5 racers breaking away from the pack at the River City Bicycle Classic bike race in Evansville, Indiana

The race was around a 0.75 course in Garvin Park. I thought it was a really nice location for spectators and cyclists. I'm not sure how many laps were completed in 60 minutes but it must be about 35.

This team - plus one interloper - broke away from the pack.






Picture of geese in the pond at Garvin Park

There is a lagoon in the middle of the course with a lot of geese and ducks. Don't know how it worked in the earlier part of the day but I only saw one duck on the course. She flew off before causing problems.

They had a sort of a pace car driving in front of the race. Presumably to chase off or squash any geese before the cyclists passed by.



Picture of bicycle racers headed toward the finish line at the River City Bicycle Classic


I don't see anything posted on-line about the results so I don't know exactly how it turned out.

Update: Here are the results USA Cycling Results

You sort of have to know the terms to follow the announcer during the course of the race.







It was a pretty intimate setting. You can get right up to the course and feel the wind as the pack rushes by.

I think these kids might have been a little too close, though.




picture of kids near the bicycle racers at the Evansville bicycle race


There was another pretty tight turn on the back.

There was a surprising, to me anyway, amount of discussion, instruction, banter, etc among the cyclists during the race.

I'd be gasping for air, not talking.





picture of top women bicycle racers at the River City Bicycle Classic


Here are a couple of shots of the top women racers.

They raced for 50 minutes.

Smaller field than the men.





picture of 4 women racing at the River City Bicycle Classic bicycle race


The rest of the field.


Here is a link to the race website.

River City Bicycle Classic




picture of a spectator at the Evansville, Indiana River City Bicycle Classic on June 9, 2012


This character was enjoying the race. I overheard him talking to another spectator. He was apparently a racer back in the day.

He seems to be moving through life at a slower pace now.

Margot commented that the crowd of spectators was considerably more fit than the general Evansville population. I suppose part of that perception was the large number of cyclists there. Apparently cycling is pretty healthy activity and leads to good general fitness.
Picture of another spectator at the River City Bicycle Classic


I leave you with this shot to reinforce the previous point.



If any participants can correct any of the information above, please comment so I can correct it.


I did find this article on line. Courier and Press Article


picture of pine tree trunk at Bosse Field


OK. We are leaving the park and Margot swears she saw faces in the trunk of this tree.

I'm not seeing it no matter how hard I squint.

Anyone see a face?

Maybe I took the picture at the wrong angle.

4 comments:

  1. "If any participants can correct any of the information above, please comment so I can correct it."

    "They are going up to 40 miles/hr for 60 minutes."

    The top rung pros might best 30mph in a 20 km time trial, but certainly less than 30 mph much over that. A top team time trial would might get you over 35mph, working together.

    These guys were probably mid 20's at best....

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  2. Thanks. I adjusted the captions for the 2nd and 3rd picture.

    ReplyDelete
  3. loved your style and perspective. one of the female racers, not pictured;-)

    ReplyDelete